The Edwin Fox Foundation Reading Room

The Edwin Fox Foundation Reading Room is open to anyone – from BFI Southbank cinemagoers to researchers. We have a quiet study area with power supplies for laptops and an informal drop-in area ideal for group work. We also offer:

• Free Wi-Fi
• Six public access computer terminals. Here you can access the BFI’s Collections and Information Database, BFI Screenonline, BFI InView and the FIAF database
• Digital scanners to access information held on microfiche and roll film
• Book scanners for copying library material, within copyright regulations
• Digital projection and a drop down screen for use in talks and events
• Lockers to store your belongings during your visit. (Please be aware we are unable to store larger rucksacks and suitcases and users will need to make alternative arrangements before arriving at the library.)
• However, please note that our public access computer terminals are intended solely for accessing our databases and searching our collections. At busy times usage of the terminals may be restricted.

We don’t allow digital photography in the library. Please use our dedicated scanning equipment to copy material.

The Edwin Fox Foundation Reading Room is also available for private hire.

Our vast collection covers all aspects of film and television study. We also cater for those with a professional interest in the film and television industry. We hold theses, annual reports, festival files and pamphlets, and have millions of newspaper cuttings dating back to the 1930s, which we’re gradually making available digitally. You can browse the latest copies of film journals, including Cahiers du Cinema, Empire, Film Comment, The Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television, Sight & Sound, Screen International, Time Out and Variety. We also display books themed to complement BFI Southbank seasons and events.

You can search our collections for library materials.

The Edwin Fox Foundation Reading Room book collection

This collection covers the history of cinema and television from its origins to the present day. This includes material on animation, audiences, directors, film theory, comedy, film noir, horror, musicals, science fiction, westerns, making films, marketing, stars, television programmes, and national cinemas including British cinema and Hollywood. The collection also includes the Kinematograph Yearbook from 1914-1971.

The Edwin Fox Foundation Reading Room periodicals collection

Our periodicals collection includes current journals to browse, entire runs of key hard copy journals, and a range of e-journals which can be accessed via the public access computers in the library.

Below is a list of periodicals held in the Edwin Fox Foundation Reading Room which can be easily accessed. Bound volumes of these current journals are kept on the shelves, up to and including these volumes and dates. Journals in bold are no longer published. Journals marked * are also available digitally on reading room terminals.